OUR BAMBOO TOOTHBRUSH STORY

The story behind how @BambuuBrush and our bamboo toothbrushes were created plays a huge role and how we want to run as a business. After traveling the world for the last 5 years and focusing a large amount of our time on the most beautiful places in South East Asia, we have seen first hand the damage plastic pollution has caused to the landscapes and wildlife of our breathtaking planet. We have not only witnessed the beauty of these places, but have also had some special experiences with the wildlife, the marine life, and the people who live and work in the seas.

During our time travelling the globe, we have seen a dramatic difference in the quality of the world’s beaches and noticed a steep increase in the amount of plastic pollution ending up on coastlines.

Our visit to the Philippines at the beginning of 2018 gave us with a heartbreaking image while sat on the sands of Panagsama Beach, Moalboal. This iconic beach is world famous for “The Sardine Run”, and for swarms of jellyfish, with an abundance of jellies in the shallow waters, turtles often flock to the area. I sent up the drone in an attempt to catch a glimpse of these majestic creatures from above, and within a minute we spotted two turtles swimming - I was super stoked! Unfortunately the excitement was quickly tarnished, as amongst the coral was an array of plastic bags, cups, straws, and other man-made items floating around. The image of one of the turtles mistaking a plastic bag for a jellyfish and trying to eat it really resonated with me, and we have remembered it ever since.

At that moment, the impact that we as human beings have on our natural planet really hit home. Places of natural beauty like Panagsama Beach should be memorable for the endless positives, rather than for sinister images of magnificent species being put at risk due to our own behaviours and materialistic choices. We as humans are destroying some of the worlds endangered mammals and spectacular sea creatures, and we struggle to see this as “natural” in the natural world.

If we do not act now, studies show that by 2050 there will be more plastic pieces in the ocean than fish and 12 billion tonnes of plastic waste in landfills across the globe that will not biodegrade. An albatross was recently see regurgitating a plastic toothbrush to feed to their chicks in Hawaii, so the experience we had in the Philippines was not unique.

At @BambuuBrush, we are not expecting to be able to change the world and the plastic problem overnight... but we can make a start. With 6 billion people brushing their teeth every morning and night with a plastic toothbrush, we have a chance to make a significant impact on plastic production if we work together. Changing a small percentage of our population’s habits and encouraging people to make a small change could, in turn, have a much bigger impact on our future planet.